


What will I become if I don’t look back?

by PlurmpDankensteinMcFlurnten



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (Video Games), Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Character Study, Gen, Moral Dilemmas, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-07
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-13 00:48:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29893110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PlurmpDankensteinMcFlurnten/pseuds/PlurmpDankensteinMcFlurnten
Summary: On his way to confront Mephiles, Shadow briefly debates on another leap through time.
Kudos: 9





	What will I become if I don’t look back?

**Author's Note:**

> another short little piece, trying to get a feel for shadow

Shadow was fast on his way to tracking Mephiles through the twisted and broken caverns, chasing the form of his own shadow. He wanted to know more from this dark creature that claimed to know him from some event Shadow himself couldn’t recall; it certainly wasn’t the first time others knew him before he knew himself. Yet, rationally, he knew it must have something to do with Mephiles’ time-warping abilities, or perhaps the creature was just simply dragging him along a wild goose chase.

Shadow stopped, the trickling of a thought suddenly seeping in. 

Mephiles had used his own power to send them far into the future. Longer than Shadow could imagine. And while he had figured using the Chaos Emeralds would do the trick to send them back home— he’d known Chaos Control was multipurpose— even Shadow had never truly given thought to its application for that.

His first concern was of course just how it could be used for nefarious purposes, just like Mephiles had done. How much messing with the past could anyone do before it was noticeable? Could it be noticeable? What if Dr. Eggman used it—

Too many possibilities. Shadow would just have to do his best to ensure situations like this never happened again. 

Yet, it begged a question that made Shadow inhale sharply, his stomach dropping suddenly.

Just how much of the past could _he_ change?

His gut reaction told him he shouldn’t. Who knew what the long term effects would be? But yet another part of him pushed back, protesting to the thought it might be _dangerous_ and _selfish_.

Was it _dangerous_ to change his past so he never had to be on the run for most of his life? Was it _selfish_ to want to save the man he owed his creation to? Was it _selfish_ to want to save the life of an innocent, hopeful girl who only wanted to see the beauty of nature?

Not just changing his own life, but he could make this present so much better for everyone. He could stop Dr. Eggman from ever rising to power. He could stop Black Doom before him and his armies ever came back to Mobius. There were so many possibilities, his head began to feel light. 

_Ohh_ yes, the temptation was tangible, crawling up and starting to sway his willpower. 

He would make it _better_ for everyone. Maria would get her wish, and he would...he would...

And where, exactly, would that leave _him?_

Clearing Gerald of his wrongful charges wouldn’t stop the fact he was forever under the government’s thumb regardless. Stopping Black Doom, no matter when the comet came back to Mobius, would either erase his own existence or prevent him from learning all that he knew now about himself. Saving Maria wouldn’t change the fact her disease would still catch up to her, as no cure was available even now.

Would he be the same mobian without all those events? Who was Shadow the hedgehog, who wasn’t formed and born from such dark and traumatic events?

Still, the urge argued back. He could still _try_ , couldn’t he? He would find a way to make it happen. He _wanted_ to save them. 

_He just wanted to see them again._

Shadow took a breath, then let it out slowly. 

No matter how much his heart yearned for it, he wasn’t about to make that choice that would affect so many other lives besides his own. The past had happened the way it had, be it fate or coincidence, and he was who he was now. He made his choices, though he was eternally on his personal path of discovery, and he controlled his own way. 

He _was_ Shadow the hedgehog, and he would forever be just that. 

He would hold the memories of his loved ones close, but he had others he cared about in his present, too. 

His thoughts settled, he ran onward.


End file.
